Free Shipping

Description

If you're serious about hydration

Dr. Allen Lim solved one of the greatest complications that athletes experience during competition -- headaches and bloated stomachs. Lim perfected a formula with his Garmin riders that was informally dubbed Secret Drink Mix, or SDM. Word spread throughout the peloton of Lim's SDM, and now Lim's expertise is available here in 20 Pack servings as the Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix.

Unlike most sports drinks, which are formulated around electrolyte or caloric replenishment during physical exertion, the Exercise Mix focuses on keeping your body's sodium levels carefully regulated. Lim discovered that the rampant headaches plaguing his pro riders were not induced by a lack of fluids, but rather, a lack of sodium -- a very typical symptom of dehydration. Essentially, your kidneys regulate fluid retention based on the body's concentration of sodium. When sodium concentration is high, your body is forced to hold on to that fluid to dilute it. But when your sodium levels get too low (ie: through sweat loss), the opposite happens, and your kidneys must expel that fluid.

Lim's mix is designed to keep your body's sodium balance carefully regulated, maintaining hydration while also slowing diuresis. With diuresis slowed, you'll be able to pre-hydrate and drink more before a race without needing to make those three inopportune bathroom breaks right before your call-up. If these concepts around a sodium-based formula sound familiar, that's because they are -- Lim's drink mix contains nearly four times the amount of sodium in many convenience-store sports drinks, putting it on par with emergency-grade rehydration salt formulas like Pedialyte, and those used by the World Health Organization to combat severe dehydration.

The athletes that helped Lim develop the Exercise Mix weren't just complaining of headaches. They were also suffering from severe stomach bloating and flavor fatigue. The second half of Lim's solution was to ensure that his drink was easy and pleasurable to consume day in and day out. To accomplish this, every ingredient from the Exercise Mix is naturally occurring or naturally sourced from real fruit. This ensures that you're not putting anything in your body that's been chemically formulated or enhanced. In short, if it wasn't here on this Earth before you were, Dr. Lim and his team refused to use it.

The ingredients are as following: sucrose, glucose, sodium citrate, potassium citrate, calcium citrate, magnesium citrate, freeze dried fruit, citric acid (a natural preservation agent from pure lime juice), and ascorbic acid. Notice the pronounced absence of the 'natural flavors' found in so many other sports drinks. Part of what makes the Exercise Mix so uniquely palatable, even during prolonged periods of exercise and constant re-hydration, is the lack of a savoring agent. Generally, chemically-derived flavoring agents like those ominous 'natural flavors' tend to remain on your palate, causing flavor fatigue, and in larger doses, wreak havoc on your gut.

Lim and his team created two drink mixes, optimizing each for different levels of physical exertion. This Exercise Hydration Mix has a slightly higher salt content, making it Skratch Labs' on-bike mix, best used for periods when your heart rate is up and you're sweating. Because this mix has a supremely high absorption rate and is not a natural diuretic, it's excellent as a preventative measure against dehydration while you ride, when you stop at an aid station, or immediately after your workout or race. This is because you can drink a larger volume of it at a time without any painful bloating -- due in part to the drink's exceptionally low levels of acidity, and lack of chemically-enhanced flavors.

The Skratch Labs Exercise Hydration Mix - 20 Pack is available in the flavors Lemon Lime, Orange, Pineapple, or Raspberry.

Here's what others have to say...

View

Not sure I get the hype

Familiarity:
I've put it through the wringer

I think nutrition is a personal thing, but I really don't get all the hype about Skratch. I have followed Alan Lim since the beginning (Floyd Years) and his science is right on. The taste is amazing, but I just don't feel as good on Skratch as I do on cytomax. Giving 4 stars because the quality is good, but I just don't like it as much as some other things.

Comment on ipsenator's review:

Game changer (for me anyway)

Familiarity:
I've put it through the wringer

I've struggled for years with stomach upset and cramps with every single sports drink ever, so have been on straight water for the last 10 years until reluctantly trying this one from a friend who had completely bought into the whole story. Turns out, it works for me, really well. Subtle flavor that doesn't make your mouth sticky, doesn't make my stomach sick and keeps me from bonking. Hard to say if I'm more hydrated, but that's probably due to all the coffee I drink otherwise. Most surprisingly for me is that I actually enjoy the taste of all of them that I've tried, I mean, it's really pretty good, not just acceptable, but actually good. Haven't bonked in 2 years, haven't had stomach issues, for me, about perfect!

Comment on R Gregory's review:

Not what I expected, but good

Familiarity:
I've used it several times

I expected basically higher quality gatorade mix from these, but it's quite a bit different. First of all, when mixing the packet with the recommended dose of water, the orange flavor tastes about like water with a little bit of skim milk and orange flavoring. But VERY slight, almost unnoticeable flavor. It's pretty good. Sometime gatorade or other mixes can be overwhelming, this definitely isn't, it goes down easy and tastes just enough to be more appetizing than water and avoid those stomach aches that come when pounding plain water.

It's hard to say how it works, it's basically just water with some electrolytes, but it left me satisfied and hydrated. Good product.

Comment on gilipollas's review:

Great Portability

Familiarity:
I've put it through the wringer

It is cool to have it in a ready to go package for longer rides where more than two bottles are needed. Don't dilute the rasberry mixture; I think it tastes kind of gross when watered down. Lemon Lime is more forgiving.

Comment on Cameron's review:

Same Great Product, Just Simpler

Familiarity:
I've put it through the wringer

Just like the standard 1 lb bags of Skratch, these contain the same great product that is easy on the stomach and keeps you feeling fresh on the longest days in the saddle. I find these packets really nice for leaving in the car or when traveling to make quick work of concocting more magic potion. Sure it's a bit more expensive per serving, but it's nice to have around and makes a great compliment to a big package at home. You can't go wrong with any of the flavors. Lime and Raspberry are my go to's, and mixing them 50/50 makes for a secret mix that Dr. Lim claims is 50% faster than you.

Comment on Feldy's review:

Easy to drink

Gender:
Male

Familiarity:
I've used it several times

These have a great subtle flavor. Hard to say if these increase your performance but they did make me drink more water. Single serving sizes make it easy to through in your pack for those longer rides.